Westminstenders: Neglectful Drunkeness!

[RedToothBrush]

The HoC has spend the past 3 years in a state of Neglectful Drunkeness.

As it stands less then two weeks from Brexit Day, there is no deal we were promised. The Conservative and Labour Parties are more divided than ever.

The government is in disarray as 8 Cabinet ministers plus the chief whip voted against the Prime Minister including the Brexit Secretary who had minutes earlier argued for an extension only to vote against it. He is now on the brink of resignation.

The DUP look like they may be about to capitulate and vote for a deal. But it may not be enough even then.

This is what the cliff edge looks like.

Who wants to take a closer look?

DD here to haul me out of bed! Had botox yesterday in legs and feet I can't tell whether my feet are on ground or not! Mind that's practically normal for me see u all later! Don't worry eat cake!

Arj Singh @singharj
May’s talks with DUP are stalled. “Can’t see a breakthrough at present”, one insider tells me 😬

Ooo here's the sun. Haven't done the sun.

bellinisurge
{. "Delay means Betray" apparently.}

Unfortunately (probably deliberately) there is at least a half truth in that.
A DECISION as soon as possible is essential if particularly industry is not to fail completely. Knowing where the UK is going on the morning of 30th can set the wheels of recovery in motion. Whether the wheels are heading towards the EU or not is a different question.
Having a delay of 21 months or any period longer than say 3 before deciding if the UK is leaving, and presumably starting a transition period will kill off industry in the UK. BMW's plans to manufacture in China would almost guarantee they close in the UK, and the other makers will be closer to their model ends.

Morning all. Bad night for me and the little one who had bad dreams.
What fresh madness will today bring?
Is it tomorrow TM goes to the EU to ask for an extension?

European Council meeting is Thur-Fri

so if she hasn't already, May will notify them today of her extension request - if she has figured out how long she wants -

and she will attend the meeting to plead her case

Or she might have already decided to accept the delay they offered

So there will be no votes this week then? We are leaving it all now to next week? Right to the wire?

I'm sure someone will get back to us and let us know, just as soon as they've decided themselves at the Cabinet meeting this morning.

Meanwhile all the EU, the rest of the MPs, media and us mere plebs can do is twiddle our thumbs and wait for an announcement.

Such is the state of things that no one currently has a clue, nor even a hint of what's going to happen for the rest of the week.

Sorry!

In that case we had better discuss some serious stuff. Which celeb fashion range is the cream of the crop and which is just a 'dud'?
Maybe some Leavers could tell us how......Oh no, they want others to sort if for them.

We are leaving it all now to next week? Right to the wire?

•The Tory party have had just under three years to produce a plan.

•The Tory party have left it to the wire.

•The Tory party and its internecine strife caused the ref in the first place.

•The Tory party failed to sanction the plan TM and the cabinet agreed in Brussels.

•The Tory party failed to address the^^ border issues in NI.

•The Tory party entered into a partially successful bribe with the DUP which hasn't even met their objectives.

•The Tory party suppressed impact assessments and committed contempt of Parliament.

•The Tory party tried to avoid due Parliamentary process by holding a meaningful vote at all.

•The Tory party then failed to get through two votes on the WA by the biggest majorities ever seen.

And then according to the Sun (and my FiL) apparently it's one man's fault for suggesting that it would be orderly to present a new proposal. WTAF.

Why is it bollocks to suggest a government should just maybe try something that may have a chance of commanding a Parliamentary majority?

The sleazy shabby dishonest spin in our press and from some Leavers like my FIL makes me seethe.

I'm currently pondering if I need to add anything to my shopping list.

I think the royal baby will be an entirely appropriate diversion. But, wait, will the immigrant mother pretend maternity leave and child benefits?

(That’s not mine. I just read it in the comments of a FB page on vote for EU nationals. Some of the comments were rabidly about “don’t go saying that you never claimed benefits! Surely you’ve seen an optician or been on maternity leave!”)

(‘Cause of course you would be thrilled to be in a country that does not provide basic health services, right? Peachy!)

@OhYouBadBadKitten I'm off to do a payday Tesco shop today. If we get a long delay I won't have to do a big shop for months. I'll only need fresh stuff

I think there is a general assumption that everyone can understand democracy, and that democracy boils down to 50% +1 vote. However democracy is about checks and balances and I don't think most people understand what that means. Therefore they also tend to confuse MPs' role as being that of mere delegates when it's that of representatives.
I think the answer lies in education: a compulsory basic course in political philosophy and the workings of our institutions for all 16 year olds. That would go a long way I think.

lonelyplanetmum
You've got it all wrong.
It was some Syrian refugees in a rubber boat trying to escape being blown apart by their own government wot did it.

John Rentoul @johnrentoul
Of 69 Eurosceptic Tory MPs who voted against the deal last week, 25 could switch, 31 insist they won’t, 13 not known spreadsheet link

Reminder: it was estimated that May needed 65 ERGers to switch. She got 39, plus one more independent (she got all 4 of the independents she was hoping for)

What she didn't get was the 10 DUP, and the 37 more Labour votes she needed.

So ironically for all the talk here about the ERG, the plan was always about gaining some of those Labour waivers and knowing that there was a core group of ERGers who almost certainly would never vote for her deal.

As things now stand, the current status quo post Bercow make it less nor more likely that any Labour MP will go near May's deal. Unless something changes pretty quickly.

Labour will hold out for 'the something else' until the death. This isn't just simply a problem of ERG fundamentalism.

You've got to admire the shamelessness of the brexiteers and the papers attacking Bercow for stopping MV111, when they've spent weeks attacking the deal and saying how terrible it was that she could just keep bringing it back.

Also lol at Bannon thinking that losing weight and getting a hair cut makes you prime minister material.

Good litany of Tory party malfeasance lonely. I've PMd you back!

Morning y'all

I just...yeah. Tired.

Catherine Haddon @cath_haddon
A bit more on yesterday’s ruling by Speaker. It is a rule of the House and there in black and white in Erskine May. But there are reasons why the govt might have thought they had more wriggle room. The main one being that the Clerk of the House has implied such back in October...

This is David Natzler’s evidence to @CommonsEUexit last year. Shows that this issue did not come about suddenly. Natzler sets out the various issues we are now discussing.

Note he would not want to ‘speculate on various things the chair might do’

Key in this that Govt may have relied on, is his line that rules ‘are there for a purpose, and it is the purpose that has to be looked at’ and that the ‘rule is not designed to obstruct the will of the House’.

Natzler gave strong hint that the rule had flexibility... but...

... obviously this evidence also allows for Speaker’s view that another MV vote is not the will of the House.

Natzler also talked about if nothing had changed, either deal in substance or circumstances. But, again, Bercow went much stronger on this yesterday.

Sebastian Payne @SebastianePayne
^Will Boris and Raab rally behind the deal? Eyeing up No.10, it’s a tricky call.

“It’s a very fine judgment...if they hold out until they end, they could win the support of 15-20 implacable Brexiters but they would [upset] a lot of people in the centre.”^

FT on Raab and Johnson

Arj Singh @singharj
EXC: Government gagging orders have undermined business preparation for a no-deal Brexit, and firms are not ready for one on March 29, industry chiefs say

Trade associations say non disclosure agreements have stopped them telling companies what the government is planning in areas like customs soon enough

m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/exclusive-businesses-no-deal-brexit-preparations-hampered-by-government-gagging-orders_uk_5c8fd0e4e4b0d50544fe6658/?__twitter_impression=true
Exclusive: Government 'Gagging Orders' Have 'Undermined Business Preparation For No-Deal Brexit'
Major trade bodies say they have been stopped from telling member companies about plans for customs and trade.

Wow. Not exactly a surprise but the inquest on this, will go on a long time if we no deal.

Major trade associations including the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the British Retail Consortium (BRC), and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) criticised the government’s “counterproductive” decision to tie them into non-disclosure agreements before meetings with officials.

It has meant they have not been able to share the government’s latest thinking with their member companies in sufficient time, they said, stressing that industry is now not ready for a no-deal Brexit on March 29.